Well this past week was a milestone for my family. My daughter did last Wednesday what we all aspired to do at one time in our lives, that is getting potty trained. At least I hope you got it down by now. But this past week was an amazing week in the joys of parenting. Potty training in itself isn’t amazing, especially when you have to clean up after a hearty meal. And my daughter can eat, I’ll just leave it at that.
It’s the way it happened. See a few months ago, we got her this little potty and we tried to teach her how to use it, but she thought it was an addition to her doll house or something. A hideaway cave for her dolls. It just didn’t work out like I planned. She would rather not interrupt her playtime, but instead leave us a wet one. Which is fine, she’s my beautiful princess. But this past week, on Wednesday something just clicked. She not only sat down on the potty but she actually left us a surprise. We were all excited and proud of her. I never knew I could be so enthused about the restroom. But out of the blue she did it. Something inside her woke up. There was an awakening.
See, that's what life’s all about. not potty training, but waking up. realizing there is more to life than wearing diapers. Realizing the whisper you hear in your heart, the longing in your soul to know the life you’re living right here, right now has the ability to make such an amazing impact on your world. I love looking at the history of the bible, Moses leads a nation out of slavery, David slays a giant, Peter tells a crippled man to get up and walk. They inspire me, They changed their world, but the truth is they were nothing without God. Somewhere along their journey, They made a decision that they weren’t gonna let life slip right by. But that's what happens so often. Matt 22:14 says, Many are called, but few are chosen, and I read that verse and can’t help but wonder how many people in the course of history heard the call of God, but aborted their destiny because they chose comfortable over challenging and discipline. Awakening is all about lifting up Jesus by the life we live. He’s the source of life and When you go after the source there is nothing greater.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Most Important Thing I've Learned...
One of the games loved playing as a kid was smear the... guy with the football. You might have known it by another name. Basically the football is thrown in the air and whoever catches it becomes the target to take down. It's all fun and games 'till someone loses a toe. Well, No one actually ever lost a toe, but it could be harmful to your health if you were a target on purpose.
I was that target a time or two. Talking trash like kids do, I could see the bigger kids getting mad. They pretty much made sure I was getting the football because they wanted to knock me into next week. I knew it too. But I was confident in my skills. I wasn't big by any means. I was actually referred to as a short toothpick quite often, but I knew I could run. Outrun the bigger kids trying to get my blood. It made them even more upset. I loved it. We had a blast.
The problem is when I got older I tried applying the same principles to my life situations. I was confident that I had what it takes in myself alone to be successful. I didn't need anyone's help or advice. No one knew more about life than me. I knew all there was to know about life... That is until I ran my life into the ground. Its been a great climb up though!
I have learned so much over the coarse of my life, the most important being that without God I am nothing. In John 15:5, Jesus says it plain as day, you can't do anything without Me. The only way to really live life is through the One who gives life. That's why it's so important that we have a laser beam focus on Jesus. He said "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life."
If your trying to find life, for everything life is, don't settle for your way, or a cheap imitation. Jesus is "The Way."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thats Not Normal...
Ahh the blessings of morning traffic. The car that gives more than its fair share of carbon monoxide exhaust to you and everyone around you within a 400 mile radius. What usually takes 15 minutes to get to, is about 45min-1hr. The guy that cuts everyone off because he didn't wake up in time. The woman who doesn't know how to drive. Morning traffic, there's nothing like it...
The other day, what I witnessed in morning traffic made me think a little deeper about the drivers involved. It's not something you see everyday. You could probably say it was unusual, to the point of abnormal.
It was loop 410 about 7:50 in the morning. Cars stacked up on the freeway. Some guy in a truck is trying to get on 410 and this white volvo refuses to let him in. He goes out of his way to stop him from getting on, it was VICIOUS. Morning traffic at it's finest! So the truck ends up squeezing in somewhere else. Now up to this point nothing unusual has occurred. Thats the blessing of getting up late and hitting morning traffic. Its pretty much the norm. But what happens next makes me look at the situation to a deeper degree. I never thought traffic would do that for me. Anyway... The truck gets on the highway, its pretty heavy traffic. The truck happens to get a good position in a faster lane. The lane you want to be in, but got stuck instead in the slow lane. Thats what happened to the white volvo. He was stuck in the slow lane trying to get over. Then all of a sudden the same truck that got cuff off by the volvo slows down to let the white volvo in. The same volvo that wouldn't let him get on the highway!
It was abnormality unfolding right before my eyes. NO ONE DOES THAT! When a car cuts someone off, there's usually a war that takes place. But not this time. The guy in the truck goes out of his way to be nice to the guy that cut him off. I wonder what the guy in the volvo was thinking? I wonder if he thought about it later like I did?
I saw that and thought, Thats Christianity at it's finest. Loving those who least expect it and least deserve it. Returning kindness for anger. Thats what Jesus taught! That's not normal in our world today, but That's what an unbelieving world can't ignore. The love of Jesus Christ. It's different. It's not normal, But it's the very thing that makes people say "I dont know what it is that you have, but I want it!" AND Thats how it should look like when you do it right.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Can God turn it around when it gets bad?
I was kickin back a cold one a few hours ago, A&W Rootbeer of course, and I was chewin on a jalepeno popper with little bit of ranch dressing, when I saw a story that was pretty dramatic on 20/20.
It was about a girl in her 20's who used to work as a model. She was working out in London doing television modeling for programs like QVC. Anyway she gets involved with the wrong guy, he's some psycho jealous control freak. He ends up raping her and threatening her life. Pretty intense, I know. It gets worse. He then gets a friend to ambush her and throw sulfuric acid on her face. It's so bad it TOTALLY disfigures her face eating away the flesh. She described it as her flesh melting away along with her hair. If you think I'm being graphic, just think about how she must have felt.
When they show her before pictures and how she looks now it's like night and day. IT took like 40 surgeries to work on her. She has bad burn wounds on half her face. It took years of surgery, rehab and recovery. So I'm watching this thinking how horrible that someone could even do something like this. Her life is forever changed.
After all that drama and horrifying incident, there was a part of the story that took a turn... for the better. She was pretty involved in a party lifestyle before the whole thing happened. She was usually the center of attention. Everything in her life was about her. But she says in the interview that there was always something missing in her life. A void that she couldn't explain.
She went on to say that when she went through this whole thing her perspective changed. She would never be a model again, she lost her physical beauty and didn't even recognize herself in the mirror, but what she found was so much greater. IT goes beyond the superficial stuff in this world. She had found a relationship with God and the void she had felt previously was no longer there. She lost something GREAT, but she found something SO MUCH GREATER.
As I watched, It reminded me of Romans 8:28, that no matter how bad your situation, or how impossible and unsolvable, or even unfixable, God is able to work all things for the good of those that love Him. Now That is a God I love. That's who God is. He is Great and He is able to work all things together for good, not just some things, but all things, no matter what happens in your life!
It was about a girl in her 20's who used to work as a model. She was working out in London doing television modeling for programs like QVC. Anyway she gets involved with the wrong guy, he's some psycho jealous control freak. He ends up raping her and threatening her life. Pretty intense, I know. It gets worse. He then gets a friend to ambush her and throw sulfuric acid on her face. It's so bad it TOTALLY disfigures her face eating away the flesh. She described it as her flesh melting away along with her hair. If you think I'm being graphic, just think about how she must have felt.
When they show her before pictures and how she looks now it's like night and day. IT took like 40 surgeries to work on her. She has bad burn wounds on half her face. It took years of surgery, rehab and recovery. So I'm watching this thinking how horrible that someone could even do something like this. Her life is forever changed.
After all that drama and horrifying incident, there was a part of the story that took a turn... for the better. She was pretty involved in a party lifestyle before the whole thing happened. She was usually the center of attention. Everything in her life was about her. But she says in the interview that there was always something missing in her life. A void that she couldn't explain.
She went on to say that when she went through this whole thing her perspective changed. She would never be a model again, she lost her physical beauty and didn't even recognize herself in the mirror, but what she found was so much greater. IT goes beyond the superficial stuff in this world. She had found a relationship with God and the void she had felt previously was no longer there. She lost something GREAT, but she found something SO MUCH GREATER.
As I watched, It reminded me of Romans 8:28, that no matter how bad your situation, or how impossible and unsolvable, or even unfixable, God is able to work all things for the good of those that love Him. Now That is a God I love. That's who God is. He is Great and He is able to work all things together for good, not just some things, but all things, no matter what happens in your life!
Monday, January 4, 2010
The Faith Factor...
I was having lunch a few years back with my Dad. (I love my Dad, just a side note). I would have conversations with him about life and faith. He had his own ideas and beliefs. One day he decided to share an intimate moment in his life with me about why he stood where he did in his faith.
It all took place when I was about 3 yrs old. My dad had moved down to good ole Dallas, TX. He was living there for a little while and decided to try church out, but mainly for social reasons. He figured it's a good place to meet some nice people. That's probably true, I could see his line of thinking, for the most part.
So he's doing the church thing and his thoughts start going deeper than just making it a social event. He starts to consider, "What if there is a God". So one night he was out jogging, it was a clear beautiful night under the stars. He looks up and says "If your there God then show me."
What my dad was asking for was evidence before he was going to believe or make any type of commitment. He said " I didn't see anything, so from that point forward I made up my mind that there is no God". I was actually thinking back to that conversation this week and what I thought for the first time was He looked up and missed the fact that there were millions of stars. The magnificent sky and all it's beauty stretched out before him. The amazing galaxy and all the planets suspended in orbit. The wonder of God's creation stared back at my dad, but he said "I saw nothing." So he dismissed God.
This isn't unique to my dad. This happens all the time. People tell God if you show up, then I’ll give my life! God if you provide, then I’ll follow you! If you get me out of this mess, I promise to turn to you.
That's our line of thinking, but that's not how God set it up to work! He set up something called faith.
What We see in Joshua ch 3 is a turn of events that speaks to this very situation in your life. God told the people they were going to cross the Jordan River. A flooded river that was probably violent and tearing over the top of trees, this wasn't some stream or creek. He continues on to say, and when the priests walk into the water, THEN the water would stop flowing.
This is so significant because their whole Journey in the wilderness God leads them out of Egypt by wreaking havok on the enemy. Its easy to follow God when He's blowing up the enemy, right?. He parts the Red Sea. AMAZING! I can follow that kind of God, thats easy. He constantly Proves Himself and provides evidence for them their whole journey in the wilderness. But when we get to THIS point in the story, God flips the script.
He switches it to a faith factor. He says When YOU step in the water, THEN I'll stop it from flowing and For the first time God says YOU MOVE, THEN I'LL MOVE! HE WAS transitioning them from spoon feeding to faith. God knows He's faithful. He knows He'll come through. That's not the question. The real question is are you faithful? He's given you life. He's ready to lead you into a new year and give you directions along the way. Are you willing to GO, and step out into a new year trusting God's got your back. GOD IS FAITHFUL, HE WILL COME THROUGH! We must operate with faith, God will never disappoint.
It all took place when I was about 3 yrs old. My dad had moved down to good ole Dallas, TX. He was living there for a little while and decided to try church out, but mainly for social reasons. He figured it's a good place to meet some nice people. That's probably true, I could see his line of thinking, for the most part.
So he's doing the church thing and his thoughts start going deeper than just making it a social event. He starts to consider, "What if there is a God". So one night he was out jogging, it was a clear beautiful night under the stars. He looks up and says "If your there God then show me."
What my dad was asking for was evidence before he was going to believe or make any type of commitment. He said " I didn't see anything, so from that point forward I made up my mind that there is no God". I was actually thinking back to that conversation this week and what I thought for the first time was He looked up and missed the fact that there were millions of stars. The magnificent sky and all it's beauty stretched out before him. The amazing galaxy and all the planets suspended in orbit. The wonder of God's creation stared back at my dad, but he said "I saw nothing." So he dismissed God.
This isn't unique to my dad. This happens all the time. People tell God if you show up, then I’ll give my life! God if you provide, then I’ll follow you! If you get me out of this mess, I promise to turn to you.
That's our line of thinking, but that's not how God set it up to work! He set up something called faith.
What We see in Joshua ch 3 is a turn of events that speaks to this very situation in your life. God told the people they were going to cross the Jordan River. A flooded river that was probably violent and tearing over the top of trees, this wasn't some stream or creek. He continues on to say, and when the priests walk into the water, THEN the water would stop flowing.
This is so significant because their whole Journey in the wilderness God leads them out of Egypt by wreaking havok on the enemy. Its easy to follow God when He's blowing up the enemy, right?. He parts the Red Sea. AMAZING! I can follow that kind of God, thats easy. He constantly Proves Himself and provides evidence for them their whole journey in the wilderness. But when we get to THIS point in the story, God flips the script.
He switches it to a faith factor. He says When YOU step in the water, THEN I'll stop it from flowing and For the first time God says YOU MOVE, THEN I'LL MOVE! HE WAS transitioning them from spoon feeding to faith. God knows He's faithful. He knows He'll come through. That's not the question. The real question is are you faithful? He's given you life. He's ready to lead you into a new year and give you directions along the way. Are you willing to GO, and step out into a new year trusting God's got your back. GOD IS FAITHFUL, HE WILL COME THROUGH! We must operate with faith, God will never disappoint.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Start The Year Right!...
The Exchange church is joining hundreds of churches across the globe in fasting and prayer for 21 days starting January 10. Join us as we fast and pray for our city, our nation, for direction and the best year yet!
Click Here to check out the details.
Click Here to check out the details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
